Entice
/ɪnˈtaɪs/noun
To attract or tempt someone to do something, often by appealing to desire.
Did you know?Entice comes from an old sense of ‘to incite or provoke,’ and its deep ancestry is tied to the same root behind words like **access**, **excess**, and **proceed**—all built on the idea of ‘going out’ or ‘moving forward.’
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sed-
“to sit, settle”
Latin
Latin
sedēre
“to sit, remain seated”
Late Latin
Latin
incitāre
“to urge on, rouse, set in motion”
Old French
Old French
enticer
“to incite, provoke, entice”
Middle English
English
entisen
“to incite, lure, tempt”
Modern English
English
entice
“to attract or tempt by arousing desire”